The
Spirituality of the LAW

Obedience
thereto depicts a regenerated lifestyle.

My reader, can you see it? If a
man is not a Willful Sinner, he is, positively, a Willful Commandment-Keeper!
And what are the commandments of God, morally speaking, when and if they are
kept? A close study will reveal the indisputable truth: obedience to the Law
depicts a regenerated lifestyle.

A
Historical & Progressive Development of Doctrine & Explanation Regarding
“The Spirituality of the Law” in the Salvation Experience of the Church from
Generation to Generation prior to the Moral Law

The real and true Jews in the
sight of God lived in moral obedience both inwardly and outwardly.
Therefore, Abraham,
the Father of Faith and the Friend of God, heard the Gospel and was saved – and
did thereby walk with God. In other words he was circumcised in heart,
and so were his family, his disciples, his servants, The Church. He became an
exemplary sojourner set-forth in typological application to New Testament
Pilgrims (1 Pet. 2:9-11), and, furthermore, the experience of justification
by faith apart from works and justification by works through faith
are memorialized in his life. So also, Isaac,
was called out by God through the Gospel and thereby “born after the Spirit”
(Gal. 4:29) into a second birth, a birth beyond that of Abraham’s flesh, and
thus he too walked with God. Evidencing this (being born again), Isaac
was the object of animosity to those who were not born again (i.e. Ishmael). Jacob,
also, was called out by God through the Gospel and lived a life in which he,
upon conversion, walked in the footsteps of his father’s Abraham and Isaac who
walked with God. These most notable and historical figures of the Church were
the figure-heads by which men knew who God was in those days, as men called
him, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”.

Years later, also, the
Israelite people were called out of Egypt through the Gospel experiences
which were formerly addressed and titled, “The Gospel of Sacrifice”, “The
Gospel of the Spirit’s Baptism”, “The Gospel of the Imperishable Life of
Christ”, and “The Gospel of the Unfailing, Living Waters of Christ”,
hence they too walked with God. Thereby, Israel
became “The Church” by title, near proximity, spiritual adoption, value,
royalty, wealth, and location. It was explicitly
stated that they were “saved” through belief by God’s presence performing
redemption. It
was said that they did indeed, therefore, in various terms and phrases,
have the “Spirit” of God via the pre-Incarnate “Christ”. This
meant, by necessity, their faith and covenant vows were truthful and authentic,
they worshipped no other God but the One true God, they were legally and
actually “holiness unto God”, they were made beautiful by God’s shining
countenance as a Bride in the presence of a Bridegroom, and they were saints –
holy ones – whom God loved and cherished infinitely more than a man would
cherish earthly treasure, and because of this, behold, the LORD rejoiced over
them to do them good and forgave them of all their iniquities (because of their
inward and outward righteousness by grace through faith)! Might I say, my
reader, this
is no small presentation of salvation prior to when the Church was
enlightened by the edits of the Moral Law.

A
Historical & Progressive Development of Doctrine & Explanation Regarding
“The Spirituality of the Law” in its Moral Expression via the Lifestyles &
Relationships of Everyday Church Members

Upon the arrival of the Moral
Law, behold, salvation continued in select and holy generations. The Moral Law depicted
a lifestyle obtainable and walked-out by the
Church of the Wilderness, before the Law, and the Church of
Civilization after the Law (depending on the generation). These generations
in which salvation thrived, they were second-born spiritual men who walked with
God, evidenced by scripture, therefore they were free from what the scripture
called presumptuous sin (conscious deviation from the Moral Law). Therefore, in
other words, they were unwaveringly, consciously, and continually devoted to
the moral commandments of God with all their hearts!

Therefore they had “the fear of
the LORD”, which was the beginning of wisdom, and therefore they lived conscious of the
threatenings of a Divine and Inescapable KING who abode among them and
omnisciently observed them; thus they lived as though they were consciously
standing before the gaze of their Royal, Dignified, and Holy GOD. This
transcending KING was not a loathsome overseer to them, but a Darling
Bridegroom. Out of love
for God they walked in obedience to the Law in passionate desire,
inexpressible joy, and unrivaled affection. They had so great a love
for the Brethren of the Church, their fellow Israelites, that it was
commonly believed and said by them, “wrath is cruel and anger is outrageous”
(Prov. 27:4).

This means that, furthermore, they
were free
from personal vendettas and selfish desires expressed by the sin of wrath and
the greater sin of violence, fighting, and murder. Their conversations
were free from unbridled speech in general, and more so, free from lying and
false witnessing, insulting and reviling, and the like. They were free from the
sin of discontent desire known as covetousness
and the greater sin of thievery.
They were free from marital
dissatisfaction which lead to lusting after other women and the greater sin
of adultery. They were free, I say, in the liberty of Spirit-empowered
righteousness granted as a gift of God’s grace through the Gospel! And, also,
when and if any of the beloved saints of the Church were backsliding from the
aforementioned ideals of holy character, lo, the Church Officers did intercept
the backslider with proportionate punishments of Civil Justice which were,
under God, effective
to restore the backslider’s faith and repentance in God again! Therefore,
because of this, righteous generations did flourish in the paradise and utopia
called, “The Kingdom of God”, the place and people among whom God’s will is
successfully and gloriously done on earth!

Finally, my reader, consider this: the true and authentic
Israelite people, The Church, had a violent passion to seek after the LORD
through devoting themselves to the entirety of the written word of God, no
exceptions! Whatever the word of God said, however it increasingly and
progressively matured in promise, prophecy, commandment, and covenant, these
men were utterly devoted! Let us look upon the glaringly regenerate behavior,
the overt and apparent spirituality of the Israelite people, The Church, in how
they were inspired to read, memorize, understand, and never forget the Word of
God.

In Relationship to the Word of God, Spiritually Speaking,

the
Israelites were Violent Seekers after the LORD!

A man could not even obtain the
(saving) knowledge of God except he was seeking the LORD with holy
violence, according to scripture. Conveying this, the promise of Jeremiah 29:13
stated, “And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with ALL
your heart”. The holy violence of, “ALL your heart”, was the
supernatural zeal granted to and enjoyed by all saints, both initially and
present-progressively. Simply put, this was their life. By grace, the Old
Testament saints were Whole-Hearted Seekers after the LORD in the totality of
their faculties! This fact was noted before but is vibrantly evident here,
according as it was written,

Proverbs
2:1-6 – Behold, my reader, the man was receiving God’s word,
memorizing God’s word, inclining and applying his heart, not in some
emotion-less conduct of exterior rule-keeping, no! But being so moved in the
heart with holy desire and sincere conviction, the man was crying to God for
knowledge, lifting up his voice for understanding, seeking it with relentless
desire as a lost man would seek for undiscovered gold and silver in uncharted
regions of Land!

For parallel reasons, then, King
David was compelled to say, “my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for
Thee” (Ps. 63:1). Supernaturally, my reader, all Israelites breathed the same
prayers before God continually! Those that kept God’s commandments were ravaged
and soul-gripped by The Spirituality of the Law! It is evident that –
through the Law! – the Israelites were having spiritual communion with the
Living God. The general commonality among Israelite communities
was communion with their GOD, the God of Israel. This fact, standing
alone, made them different from every other Nation on the earth (“For
wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy
sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and
thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.” – Ex.
33:16). Therefore,
the amazing thing was, what was common behavior and common sensecharacter
(proverbial wisdom) of every Israelite can be seen in The Proverbs, as it was
written,

Proverbs
4:1-9 -- Behold, the man was submissive and studious to his
spiritual guides, retaining the words of God in his heart so as to never forget
them nor decline from them, and, thus, he loved them, exalted them, and
embraced them with all his heart! These men, the Isrealite citizens, were ever keeping
their hearts with all diligence, looking straight-on without turning aside, continually
pondering the path of their feet and removing themselves from all conscious evil
(Prov. 4:23-27).

Proverbs
6:21-23 -- Their relationship with God was real! Yes, and God joined with them as they pursued holy affections!
Even so, it was written, whenever they went He led them, whenever they slept
He kept and protected them, whenever they awoke He talked
with them, as a Lamp to their feet and a Light to their path He illuminated
them (through His written word)!

My reader, by the shear
experience of being loved by God, they love God! And being constrained thereby
they hid God’s commandments in their hearts because they were dear to them!

Deuteronomy
6:5-9 -- Behold, the Israelites taught the commandments of God
diligently to their children, so much so that they talked about them in every
conversation in the house, they talked about them when they are walking
by theway, they talked about them when they lied down and
when they rose up, for, the commandments of God were ever-before-them
like as the fontlets between their eyes, and, literally speaking, they wrote
them upon the posts of their house and on their gates as a memorial of love! What
a glory! “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city
of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy
of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the
great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge” (Psalm 48:1-3).

By the strong compulsion of love
for God, His commandments were as the apple of their eye, they were written upon
the tablet of their hearts; for they, being cherished, were like a sister and
kinswoman to the soul (Prov. 7:1-4). Furthermore, also, nothing was comparable
to their love for God and His commandments, which meant, expressly, nothing was
more desirable or pleasurable to them! Etched into their very desires was God’s
truth, “For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be
desired are not to be compared to it” (Prov. 8:11)! For this reason, also,
they looked after the Living God’s illuminating face forevermore, as it was
written, “Blessed is the man that heareth Me, watchingdaily
at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors” (Prov.
8:32-36). [Let the reader take note of this key principle of salvation: KEY
- Without this behavior one could not obtain the knowledge of God or
understand the fear of the Lord, which means, in other words, one couldn’t hear
God, see God, fellowship with God, or walk with God (John
7:11-12, Rom. 12:1-4). “A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not:
but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth” (Prov. 14:6).]

Anyone who didn’t live a lifestyle
in concert with this peculiar behavior of seeking after God, they would not
presently and progressively find God… that’s a biblical fact. Such men would progressively
slip further and further until, at last, if they did not find recovery through
Civil Justice and Divine Chastisement, they would fall into a continuous state
of presumptuous sinning and thereby be publically executed. The men who would
not understand the fear of the Lord, they became examples of Divine anger which
were thenceforth feared by all. Let us finally understand God’s truth, my
reader, the lessons which took bloodshed for Israel to understand: all
citizens of Israel were required to kiss their King, “lest He be angry and
[they] perish[ed] from the way, when His wrath [was] kindled but a little”
(Psalm 2:12)! Therefore what can be said of all the beloved Israelites who
lived-on to tell the story? They were reconciled to and in friendship with the
personality of God depicted by the Moral Law! Miraculously, they rejoiced in
the demanding utterances of the Law even though they fell short of sinless perfection…
but how?